The search for an overdue hunter came to an unfortunate end on Sunday when the remains of a Cordova hunter were located and retrieved from a steep chute near the McKinley Trail.

It was on Tuesday afternoon on October 8th that 33-year-old Neil Durco of Cordova was overdue from an overnight hunt on the McKinley Trail. He had left on Monday and had not returned the next day as planned.

According to the caller, Durco had gone out alone and was not prepared with weather gear or enough food for an extended stay outdoors.

When the ground search was initiated, Durco’s vehicle was located at the trailhead on Wednesday, but found no sign of the hunter. Weather initially hampered an aerial search, which did not begin until mid-day Thursday.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers reported that extensive search assets were deployed and thanked “the  Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, Alaska Army National Guard, and U.S. Coast Guard for providing resources and staff dedicated to the search operation, and the Cordova Police and Fire Departments, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Cordova community and more than 50 ground-search volunteers who contributed to the search their time, physical efforts, and area expertise.”

Durco’s next-of-kin were notified of the latest developments.

  Alaska, Coast Guard, Cordova, discovery, hunter, mckinley, neil durco, rcc, remains, search, trail, troopers